Sunday, May 22, 2011

Done, Done, Done (Almost)

Daddy is in NYC right now for 4 more days. He was gone the whole week for training. He will be home for 4 days then back for another two weeks. I have to say that being a single mom is the hardest job in the world so hats off to all of the single Moms in my life, you guys are amazing. Not even in that your kids are turning out (or have turned out) great, but that you managed to also maintain such a strong and unique sense of identity. All I seem to have time for Annie, work and my allergies.

I did carve out sometime this weekend to finish off the yard. I wasn't going to let the fact Daddy was gone get in my way of finishing the drip system. It took a bit of trial and error, some VERY sore and cut up hands (solved that with electrical tape) but I managed to finish installing the drip to the back wall, the side beds and all of the pots. The landscapers laid the main lines and I can punch in a drip hose where ever I choose to plant. This sounds like a small thing but its awesome.

I must have laid about 55 hoses by the time all was said and done. After much trial and error and a few trips to the Home Depot (they must think I am nuts) I can now tell you with just gut feel how much a 2 Gallon per hour head will drip in 5 minutes vs a .5 gallon hour per head. And, after a mistake know the difference between a head you use inline (in a row of plants) vs one that goes on the end.

It was a lot of hard work and I would have much preferred to have Adam around to help me, but I am proud that I was able to do it alone none the less.

We are waiting for a buffet table to show up and one pot drain to be fixed and we are done.

Lori and I spent about 4 hours in the yard yesterday! First we laid out, talked and read with cocktails, then we sat the fire for about an hour with a glass of wine. It was everything I hoped it would be!!



I replanted all the snap dragons around the fountain as they did very well there before.

Hydrangeas and jasmine.  Also some peony waiting to bloom.

Flowers at the base of all 5 trees.

Jasmine to hide the AC even more.  We just cant let it grow near the top, just around.

Got all three sets of pots done.  The irrigation is awesome.  Each pot has it's own main line coming off of it with a drain beneath.  I then can add as many hoses as I want and run them into other pots if we get them.

Example of the drip coming up from the bottom of the pot.  Small thing I know but I am now an irrigation nerd.

Roses in full bloom.


Lounge chairs came and they made for a great nap.

Third set of pots. Climbing yellow roses, a vine, and some annuals for color around the trees.  Hopefully my thumb is as green as my parents!


Annie loves her play area as well.  Now if we could teach her to keep the sand IN the sand box.


Hose guides I found at Homegoods for 1/4 the price I saw everywhere else.

This is where the buffet table will go.  We will use it to serve food and put out drinks.

My hydrangeas now.

My hydrangeas two weeks ago.  Yeah!!!!

Zoo Time

After Lori left this morning we went to the Zoo, just Mommy and Annie. I love that it is only 15 minutes away. We got there right when it opened so it was not crowded at all, spent an hour or so looking at the animals and we were on our way home. Didn't cost a dime with our membership. It was a milestone for Annie because she was big enough to walk around on her own and stand up on the fences. It reminded me so much of how things were for me when I was a kid. I probably have a million pictures of myself at her age standing on a fence at the Zoo.
















I saw this monkey messing around in the trees while we were looking at the tigers.  He is quite far off and I hope this is above his cage but it looked like he was out running rogue.  Silly monkey.

Kids Rockclimbing